U.S. Cases Rise 0.9%; Texas Hospitalizations Spike: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose at the slowest daily pace since March. A top World Health Organization official attempted to downplay her comment Monday that asymptomatic transmission is “very rare,” an assessment that revived controversy over transmission routes.

New York’s Westchester and Rockland counties entered the second phase of reopening Tuesday, while Long Island is set to do so on Wednesday. New York City reached a milestone on testing, and New Jersey lifted its stay-at-home order.

South Asia coronavirus cases have increased at the fastest rate globally in the past week, as the region becomes one of the latest pandemic hot spots. The Eiffel Tower in Paris will reopen following the longest shutdown since World War II.

Key Developments:

• Virus Tracker: Cases pass 7.1 million; deaths exceed 408,000
• Little sign of accelerating infection as Europe reopens
• How the virus upended 20 million lives in India’s finance hub
• China wants it both ways on coronavirus recovery
• Angst, masks, new safety alert mark my first flight since Covid
• Where are we in the quest for a vaccine?

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus. For a look back at this week’s top stories from QuickTake, click here.

Texas Hospitalizations Jump to New High (5:43 p.m. NY)

Hospitalizations in Texas jumped 6.3% to 2,056, the highest since the pandemic emerged and the third consecutive daily increase, according to state health department figures.

The escalation is increasing criticism of Governor Greg Abbott’s aggressive reopening of the Lone Star state’s economy that began last month. The caseload rose by 2.2% to 77,253, in line with the seven-day average.

CME to Reopen Eurodollar Options Pit in August (5:15 p.m. NY)

CME Group said it will reopen its Eurodollar options trading pit on Aug. 10 after reconfiguring the pit to meet social distancing standards and putting additional safety standards in place. All other open outcry trading pits will remain closed until Chicago and Illinois reach Phase 5 of their reopening plans.

New York Subways Rebound (4:24 p.m. NY)

Ridership on New York City’s subways and busses rebounded Monday, after plummetting during the pandemic.

About 800,000 people rode the subway network, up 17% from the week before, Sarah Feinberg, interim president of New York City Transit, told reporters Monday. Bus ridership is up 13%.

Chicago Cancels Outdoor Events (4:15 p.m. NY)

Chicago is canceling large outdoor events through Labor Day, amid concerns about a rebound in cases after several days of protests.

Cancellations include Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza in Grant Park, the Chicago Air and Water Show at North Avenue Beach and Chicago Jazz Festival in Millennium Park, according to a statement Tuesday from Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

The city is proposing to-go and at-home versions of several of those popular events.

U.S. Cases Rise 0.9%, Slowest Since March (4 p.m. NY)

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased by 17,145 from the same time Monday, to 1.97 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The 0.9% increase was below the average daily increase of 1.1% over the past seven days and the slowest gain since March. Deaths rose to 111,491.

• New York cases rose 0.2% to 379,482, compared with the average increase of 0.3% in the past seven days, according to the state’s health department.
• Florida reported 66,000 cases, up 1.7%, compared with an average increase of 1.9% in the previous seven days. Deaths reached 2,765, an increase of 2%.
• New Jersey’s death toll rose by 91 to 12,303 while the number of cases rose by 375 to 164,796, according to Governor Phil Murphy.
• California’s cases rose 1.7% to 133,489 while deaths rose 0.9% to 4,697, according to the state’s health department.

New Jersey Lifts Stay-at-Home Order (1:42 p.m.)

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy lifted the state’s stay-at-home order that has been in place since March 21, while urging residents to wear masks and maintain social distance.

Murphy also is raising the limit on gatherings. Indoors, gatherings must be at 25% of a building’s capacity or 50 people, whichever is lower. Outside, crowds of as many as 100 will be allowed.

The governor also said he anticipated raising the limit on non-protest and non-religious activities to 250 people on June 22 and 500 people on July 3.

Westchester in Phase 2; Long Island Next (1 p.m. NY)

New York’s Hudson Valley, including Westchester and Rockland counties, entered the second phase of reopening Tuesday, while Long Island is set to do so on Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Phase 2 allows hair salons to reopen, outdoor dining at restaurants and in-person shopping at stores.

In New York City, which began the first phase of reopening on Monday, the state is keeping an eye on hot spots including the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, Cuomo said Tuesday at a press briefing. While the number of positive cases citywide is at 19.9%, it’s above 50% in some of those zip codes, he said.

Cuomo said the state must now focus on the daily testing numbers, and is adding a new regional dashboard so citizens can watch for the positive test results.

“We need to look at the facts and the numbers through a different lens now. We’re all reopening, everything is reopening, the question now is could there be any spike in the rate of transmission upon reopening?” Cuomo said. “This is a whole different universe for us now.”

Cuomo released guidelines for the third phase, which include restaurants, nail salons and other personal-care businesses. Mandates include limiting indoor capacity to no more than 50%, keeping tables at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart and requiring employees to wear masks.

Food Production Changes Needed, UN Says (12:05 p.m. NY)

The coronavirus pandemic has signaled an urgent need to change the way food is produced to help contain hunger and develop environmentally sustainable supplies, according to the United Nations.

The combined effects of the Covid-19 crisis, government measures and the emerging global recession risk a worldwide food emergency and in the long-term could disrupt how food systems function, the UN said in a policy brief. That could lead to consequences for health and nutrition on a scale not seen for more than half a century, it said.

NYC Sees Just 1% Test Positive (11:23 a.m. NY)

New York City reached a milestone, with just 1% testing positive for the novel coronavirus for the first time since the beginning of the outbreak, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Unbelievably good news,” de Blasio said Tuesday at a press briefing. “Let’s keep clinging to that progress.”

The city, which began to reopen on Monday after almost three months on lockdown, reached a high of 71% positivity in April. The city is now conducting more than 30,000 coronavirus tests a day, he said.

Florida Weekly Cases Mount; DeSantis Cites Testing (11:15 a.m. NY)

Florida reported 66,000 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, up 1.7% from a day earlier, compared with an average increase of 1.9% in the previous seven days. Deaths among Florida residents reached 2,765, an increase of 2%.

The 8,553 new cases in the past week is the most of any seven-day period. But in a press briefing Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis attributed the rise to a dramatic increase of testing. The new positivity rate -- people testing positive for the first time among overall tests in a day -- was 3.8%, within the 1%-7% range in the past month.

Total cumulative coronavirus hospitalizations rose 1.6% to 11,185 from 11,008 a day earlier.

WHO Official Downplays Comment on Asymptomatic Spread (10:40 a.m. NY)

A top World Health Organization official attempted to downplay her comment Monday that asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus is “very rare,” an assessment that revived controversy over transmission routes.

In a live event on social media to take questions from the public on Tuesday, Maria Van Kerkhove said her comments referred to two to three studies that have been published and that try to follow asymptomatic cases over time and look at all their contacts to see how many additional people were infected.

“That’s a very small subset of studies,” said Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist. “I was responding to a question, not stating a policy of the WHO. I was just trying to articulate what we know. I used the phrase ‘very rare’ and I think that’s a misunderstanding to state asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. What I was referring to was a subset of studies. I also referred to some data that isn’t published.”

Van Kerkhove said that while it’s known there are some asymptomatic patients who can transmit the virus, it needs to be better understood how many of the people in the population don’t have symptoms and separately, how many of those individuals go on to transmit to others. Van Kerkhove also said asymptomatic patients tend to be younger and without underlying medical conditions.

Her comments elicited criticism from some public health experts.

“If you look at the data overall, I think it’s overwhelming that there has to be asymptomatic carriers that are spreading,” said Mark Dybul, the co-director of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Practice and Impact. “It’s almost impossible that they don’t. I’d have to look at why she’s saying that, because it runs counter to everything, the growing body of evidence over the last five months.”

Paris Eiffel Tower to Reopen June 25 (9:04 a.m. NY)

The Eiffel Tower in Paris will reopen following the longest shutdown since World War II. The French capital’s second-most visited tourist landmark behind the Louvre Museum will reopen to visitors on June 25 after being closed for three months due to the virus. Visitors will initially only be able to access the tower via the stairs and will have to wear masks.

Airline Industry Forecast to Suffer Record $84 Billion Loss (8:58 a.m. NY)

Airlines will post a record collective loss this year that will be more than twice that suffered after the 2008 global economic slump, according to the industry’s main trade group. Carriers will lose $84 billion in 2020 and almost $16 billion in 2021, the International Air Transport Association said in a briefing Tuesday. That compares with a $31 billion loss after the last recession.

South Asia Cases Rise at Fastest Rate Across the Globe (8:23 a.m. NY)

South Asia coronavirus cases have increased at the fastest rate globally in the past week, as the region becomes one of the latest pandemic hot spots. Infections have risen by 27% in Pakistan, 19% in Bangladesh and 17% in India, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pakistan and Bangladesh also had their single biggest daily spike in fatalities.

As cases dwindle in the U.S. and Europe, they are still increasing in South America and South Asia. More than 136,000 cases were reported worldwide on Sunday, the most in a single day so far, with nearly 75% from 10 countries in the Americas and South Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

Sweden Says Strategy Wasn’t About Shielding Economy (8 a.m. NY)

Sweden’s finance minister says it was never the government’s intention to adopt a relaxed Covid-19 strategy in order to protect the economy. “We haven’t taken economic considerations when we have decided on the Swedish strategy,” Magdalena Andersson said in an interview in Stockholm.

Sweden’s softer lockdown has resulted in one of the world’s highest death rates, relative to the population. Andersson said in May that her country was facing a “very deep economic crisis,” with GDP set to sink about about 7%, despite the softer lockdown. The decisions taken in Sweden have fed into a global debate over the economic consequences of shuttering a society to fight a pandemic.

Thuringia Is First German Region to End Social Distancing (7:53 a.m. NY)

Thuringia is set to lift contact restrictions from June 13, the state’s left-wing government decided Tuesday, making it the first German region to end social distancing requirements. Swimming pools, saunas and cinemas will also be allowed to reopen if they observe hygiene requirements.

Earlier, Germany recorded an increase in new cases, and the infection rate climbed to 1.11, pushing above the key threshold of 1.0. There were 359 new cases in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, bringing the total to 186,109, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That compares with 300 the previous day and almost 7,000 at the peak of the pandemic in late March. Case numbers have increased by an average of 0.2% each day over the past five days, Bloomberg analysis shows.

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With assistance from Bloomberg